The Galaxy K is the latest in Samsung’s “flood the market” strategy

Remember the Galaxy S4 Zoom? It was a strange little hybrid device consisting of a mashup between a point-and-shoot camera (with a giant optical zoom) and a mid-range smartphone. Samsung has taken another swing at the concept with the Galaxy K Zoom.

"Galaxy K" would seem to denote a new line of devices from the company. The name change is welcome because the S4 Zoom wasn't really a Galaxy S4 with a zoom lens—the specs were much lower than the "S4" name would have you believe. It's the same deal for the Galaxy K, which takes design cues from the S5 (but isn't an S5).

The phone part consists of KitKat running on a 4.8-inch, 1280×720 display, 2GB of RAM, a 2430 mAh battery, and 8GB of storage with a microSD slot. Samsung describes the processor as "Hexa core," made up of a 1.3GHz quad-core and a 1.7GHz dual-core processor. While Samsung's spec sheet isn't very forthcoming about the details, based on the cores and frequencies, we would guess this is an Exynos 5260, which uses two 1.7GHz A15 cores and four low-power 1.3GHz Cortex A7 cores. Don't let the core count fool you: that's decidedly midrange.

The star of the show is the camera, which is typical for a modern point-and-shoot. It has a 20.7MP 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor, a 10x optical zoom, and optical image stabilization. While the S4 Zoom was more of a compact camera body with a smartphone attached to the front, the Galaxy K is more of a thick smartphone design with a zoom lens attached. The Galaxy K sawed off the camera grip of the S4 Zoom, which is either a big improvement if you're looking for a smartphone-style device or makes the device harder to hold if you're looking for a camera. It's also missing the tripod mount that was on the S4 Zoom, though we imagine if you're serious enough to have a tripod, you're serious enough to buy a better camera. It's still a big device—at 20.2mm-16.6mm thick, the Galaxy K Zoom is about double the thickness of an S5.

Decisiveness is overrated

The Galaxy K Zoom is the latest in Samsung's strategy of nearly endless smartphone variations. A quick glance at the rumor mill shows that the company is reportedly working on a more expensive version of the S5 called the "Galaxy S5 Prime," a less expensive version called the "Galaxy S5 Neo," and the smaller "Galaxy S5 Mini." If it weren't for the name change, this would be the "Galaxy S5 Zoom." Our favorite S5 variant is the upcoming Galaxy S5 Crystal edition—an S5 that has been bedazzled with Swarovski crystals.

Flooding the market seems to be Samsung's go-to strategy when it's not sure what to do next. After the failure of the Galaxy Gear, Samsung decided to apply the "flood the market" strategy to smartwatches, too, launching the Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo, and Gear Fit all on the same day. The rumor mill has also been churning about a "Gear Solo," a standalone smartwatch with a SIM slot, and the "Galaxy S Fitness," which would run Android Wear. If they all end up launching, that would be seven Samsung smartwatches in a one-year period.

It seems like Samsung is asking, "Do you want a smartwatch made of metal? How about one made of plastic? Do you want one with a curved screen? One that doesn't need a smartphone to function? How about one that runs Android Wear?" Instead of running these questions by a decisive product designer, Samsung releases something to fill every possible market niche. Presumably, it just tallies up sales at the end of the year and decides what features are important for the future.

It might seem haphazard and confusing to consumers, but it allows Samsung to hit every niche imaginable and kill its competitors with "death by a thousand paper cuts." The strategy has won the company a third of the global smartphone market, according to Strategy Analytics.

Samsung's market strategy isn't foolproof, however, and the company is in a bit of a slump. According to the same report, Samsung's market share is down a percentage point this quarter. Its profits are down too, with the company posting a 3.3 percent decline in its Q1 earnings report. That's the second consecutive quarter Samsung has seen a year-over-year decrease in profits. This quarter, the company at least has a good excuse for the falling profits—Q1 2014 was at the end of the Galaxy S4's life cycle. Samsung says next quarter should be better, with the launch of the Galaxy S5 hitting the books. The loss of market share came from low-end competitors like Lenovo and Huawei, and the company says it will release more low-end phones to compensate. For Samsung, it's just one more niche to fill.

Ron Amadeo / Ron is the Reviews Editor at Ars Technica, where he specializes in Android OS and Google products. He is always on the hunt for a new gadget and loves to rip things apart to see how they work.